John Marker

Wildfire continues to be a destructive force as we enter the 21st Century. If the fire activity of the past two years is an indicator, we can expect to see increasing wildfire damage in the future. Florida, California and Nevada had near record fire losses in 1999, and the year before, Texas experienced one of its worst fire years in decades. In May of this year 50,000 acres of forest and rangeland and over 200 homes and buildings burned in a wildfire at Los Alamos, New Mexico.

While weather plays a role, it is only one of several factors contributing to wildfires. Expanding population in fire-prone areas, decline of national, state and local fire forces, and loss of experienced fire leadership also contributes to fire losses.

A steady influx of people moving to the interface (areas where homes and businesses become part of what had been unsettled natural areas) places fire protection challenges on fire agencies few can meet. The new settlers require higher levels of protection, but few fire agencies can meet the demand for more service. In fact, most are seeing their fire protection capability decline, particularly the federal agencies. One example can be seen in Oregon. Firefighters claim that the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are below 50 percent of their 1994 firefighting capability. The Oregon Department of Forestry and rural fire districts, with limited wildfire resources, can't fill the gap left by federal losses. This is not a good situation for forest landowners.

On the positive side, there is a renewed effort to involve interface residents in their own protection. Firefighters have preached for years the importance of people taking responsibility for protection of their property from fire, and fire agencies have supported programs and legislation to encourage this personal responsibility.

A new and significant national effort to reduce wildfire losses in the interface was launched at Stevenson, Wash., on March 29 of this year with the first of nine regional FIREWISE workshops scheduled for 2000 and 2001. FIREWISE is a program developed by the National Fire Protection Association, USDA Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and other land management and emergency management agencies to call attention to the critical need for interface communities to take an active role in protecting themselves from a wildfire. A key point emphasized at the workshops is that firefighters cannot protect people, property and the land from wildfire losses if residents and communities ignore realities of the fire-prone environment in which they live.

Nearly 1,000 community and business leaders have been or will be selected to become part of this national effort. Representing industries involved in financing, building, and maintaining and protecting homes in America, participants are guided through a computer-based simulation exercise to assess wildfire risks to communities and homes. The simulator program then provides tools for development of plans and activities to create FIREWISE communities. When the workshops are complete, participants will understand how to evaluate wildfire potential, design FIREWISE homes and communities, and most importantly, take their new learning back home to share with their neighbors and communities.

The workshop cadre includes fire professionals with extensive wildland fire protection backgrounds and technical specialists in communications, computer use and community development. The focus of the workshops is on people in interface areas who can provide leadership necessary to help local fire agencies build support to reduce the potential for fire losses.

One concept stressed is that people need to understand the necessity of building a "life ring" around their property to help structures survive a wildfire without the direct support of firefighters or fire engines. Success of this concept will make a major contribution to protection of forestland by allowing firefighters to concentrate on controlling the spread of a wildfire, resulting in less damage to natural resources, both public and private.

A second concept is that by using FIREWISE tools, the protection program is designed and built by local communities and citizens to fit their specific wildfire protection needs.

The emphasis is on community and structural protection, but family forest owners can use the methodology to assess their vulnerability to fire and provide a basis for strategies to reduce the risk. An understanding of FIREWISE will also be an asset in discussions of fire protection needs for adjacent lands and developments that can have a fire influence on woodland properties.

FIREWISE can make a difference in interface fire protection if local people are willing to take part in their own protection from the ravages of a wildfire. This initiative deserves the attention and support of forest landowners. To learn more about FIREWISE, contact Barbara Kennedy, USDA Forest Service, at (503) 808-2323 in Portland, Ore., or go to the interactive web site at www.firewise.org/communities.

John Marker is director of North American Wildfire Ltd., an organization that publishes Wildland Firefighter magazine, and a former wildland fire manager. An orchard owner, he resides in Mount Hood, Ore., and can be reached at jf37m@aol.com.

This article appeared in the Northwest Woodlands Magazine, Summer 2000- Published quarterly by the World Forestry Center as a benefit of membership in the Oregon Small Woodlands Association, Washington Farm Forestry Association, Idaho Forest Owners Association and Montana Forest Owners Association.